Some ideas to improve slavery

[chequita guevara]

Get rid of the ability to build workers under despotism. That would make the game interesting. Or, you can only build workers from unassimilated populations (so you aren't forced to constantly raze enemy cities to get workers).

[pvzh]

edit: Never mind

[Sarxis]

Its just not even funny CG.

I wouldn't mind something more with Slavers, since it did play a big part in history, but I doubt Firaxis is going to make the system any more 'involved' than it already is.

I wouldn't mind seeing Explorers or something with the enslave ability. Or something..

[Willem]

Originally posted by Uber KruX
i still think that all elite units should have enslave, but thats just me.

You'd end up with so many slaves you wouldn't know what to do with them all. Definitely overkill!

[okblacke]

Originally posted by Azaelus
So many cultures have owned slaves at one point - the Pyramids and the Great Wall, off the top of my head, were definitely built using slave labour.

Hmmm. I thought the mode in historical cirlces was to downplay the use of slaves in building the Pyramids. That is, I thought I had heard that most of the builders of the pyramids were Egyptian citizens who considered it an honor, from both a patriotic and religious standpoint.

The other side of slavery not mentioned in your suggestions is that it has a deblitating effect on the general population. A "good slave" renders his master incompetent. Romans didn't read, they had Greek slaves to do it for them. Perhaps slaves don't have a gold cost--but maybe they should cost a shield per turn! The deduction would come from the richest cities, too.

There's also a huge difference between what one could call "traditional" slavery and the racist slavery that emerged in the 17th century, given huge impetus by Social Darwinists and early psychologists, and culminating with fascism. Note that the US of A was a prime factor in this development, despite also being the prime champion and example of democracy. At the time of the Revolution, Virginia was, what, 80% slave?

Not that your ideas are bad. If I were going to object to them on any grounds, it would be that they make slavery a bigger part of the game and, well, ick. I find it weird to gleefully capture workers and turn them into slaves in the modern era.

I do think that, at a minimum, there should be an advance which a tribe cannot make until it has no slaves. There should be global fallout to using slaves in a world that has largely abandoned that concept. An interesting counterpart to slavery (in a post-slavery world) might be the P.O.W.

[ok]

[smellymummy]

if enslaved is increased our games would end up with lots of floating population. if units were to cost population (kind of like a draft) + shields, that could balance things out.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Anun Ik Oba
Its just not even funny CG.

A lot of people in the OT, where I crawled out of, thought it was hilarious.

Guess it's back to the dingo.

[Argos65987]

Originally posted by okblacke


I find it weird to gleefully capture workers and turn them into slaves in the modern era.


[ok]

How about the enslavement ability stops with units from a particular era? Say land units after the middle ages don't enslave (riflemen, cavalry and forward), and sea units after the age of sail ones do not enslave.

I know these may not be the most historically accurate places in time to stop the enslavement ability, but they seem the simplest and most balanced place to stop. You could even make an arguement to stop military land units from enslaving after the ancient era groups for play balance.

[Donegeal]

I frequently mod my game to give every ancient age unit the enslave ability. I continue this up to Muskets (as traditionally beyond this point gaining slaves through war diminishes considerably, IMHO). The one exception to this is the Guerilla. They remind me of partisans from Civ II. They do what ever it takes to win, including the use of slaves.

[Rugger-UK]

Use for Slaves

Best use is to use slaves for colonys when your borders haven't expanded enough yet, especially when you raze the cities they have just come from.

Or use them to expand slow growing cities when you have made peace with or destroyed their nation.